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Son of Braves third-base coach gets Draft call

Son of Braves third-base coach gets Draft call

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Braves draft Gilmartin No. 28 1:24

6/6/11: The Braves select Sean Gilmartin with the 28th overall pick

By Mark Bowman
/
MLB.com |

ATLANTA -- Troy Snitker can almost certainly lay claim to being the first player to learn he had been drafted by the Braves while wearing a Braves uniform and shagging fly balls during batting practice at a Major League stadium.

Having joined his father, Braves third-base coach Brian Snitker, on this road trip in New York this past weekend, the younger Snitker spent most of Tuesday afternoon following this year's First-Year Player Draft on MLB.com in the visitor's clubhouse at Sun Life Stadium.

When he wasn't selected through the 15 rounds, a somewhat disappointed Snitker donned his Braves uniform (wearing his father's No. 51) and took the field for batting practice with his cell phone in his back pocket.
A short time later, the Braves called to inform him they had selected him in the 19th round.

"I'm happy for him because he's worked his butt off," the elder Snitker said. "He's a real dedicated kid. He had a really good year, so it's neat that he's going to get the opportunity. He's grown up in a dugout, on a baseball field. He didn't know anything else. So it's kind of neat that he's going to get a chance to do this."

Since signing his first professional contract in 1977, Brian Snitker has served as a player, coach or manager in the Braves' organization. Before beginning his current stint as Atlanta's third-base coach in 2007, he served as a manager for a number of the organization's Minor League affiliates.

This prompted the younger Snitker to jokingly tell one of the Braves' players, "I've spent 12 years in the Minor Leagues already."

"It's going to be a fun experience," Troy Snitker said. "It's going to be weird. I've worn the uniform my whole life and now wearing it to play in is going to feel a little different."
After completing a successful high school career at suburban Atlanta's Brookwood High School, Snitker ended up attending North Georgia College and extending his baseball career. This past season, the 22-year-old catcher hit .340 with six homers and 44 RBIs.

"I didn't have any expectations, but I'm extremely happy it was the Braves," Troy Snitker said.

Mark Bowman is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.